No legal pakalolo for Hawaii this year, North Dakota sees its first medical marijuana dispensary, asset forfeiture reform advances in Michigan, and more.

The British Labor Party is calling for pilot safe injection sites like this one in Vancouver. (Creative Commons)

Marijuana Policy

Hawaii Legalization Bill Dies. A legalization bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English (D) and cosponsored by half the Democrats in the Senate died last Friday after the Senate Health Committee did not schedule a meeting to hear any bills that day. Friday was the deadline for bills to be considered by the full Senate, so the inaction effectively killed the bill.

Vermont Senate Approves Legalizing Marijuana Sales. The state Senate last Friday approved S.54, which would establish a taxed and regulated market for legal marijuana sales. The bill now goes to the House. This is the sixth time the Senate has passed a tax and regulate proposal, only to see them die in the House. But this year, 40 House members are supporting H. 196, a separate legalization bill that is slightly different from the Senate bill.

Medical Marijuana

Nebraska Medical Marijuana Initiative Cleared for Signature-Gathering. The secretary of state's office last Friday approved a medical marijuana initiative for signature gathering. The initiative would "amend the Nebraska Constitution to provide the rights to use, possess, access, and safely produce cannabis, and cannabis products and materials, for serious medical conditions as recommended by a physician or nurse practitioner," according to the ballot title. To qualify for the ballot, 10% of registered voters must sign the petition. It must also have signatures from at least five percent of registered voters in at least 38 out of the state's 93 counties.

Michigan House Approves Asset Forfeiture Reform Package. Two weeks after the state Senate passed an asset forfeiture reform package that would end civil forfeiture unless the assets are worth more than $50,000, the House has now passed a similar package. The two bodies will meet in conference committee to hash out minor differences before sending the legislation to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).

Utah Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill Killed in House Committee. A bill that would reform asset forfeiture practices in the state breezed through the Senate only to die last Friday in a House committee after the DEA and Utah narcotics officers blasted the bill. SB 109 would have required law enforcement to file cases only in state court to prevent police from giving cases to the feds to avoid state laws.

International

British Labor Party Calls for Safe Consumption Site Pilot Programs. The Labor Party has come out will a call for pilot programs for safe consumption sites. Calls for their introduction have grown louder as the United Kingdom grapples with its own overdose death crisis. Some 4,678 people died of drug overdoses in the kingdom last year.

And they are nowhere near allowing the use of cannabis for pain relief or any other medicinal use, government policy there seems totally under the thumb of big pharma, no pesky state initiatives to let ordinary citizens have a say. I wonder if there is ANY level of opiates overdose deaths that would change their unyielding hatred towards raw medicinal cannabis, as opposed to high priced pharmaceuticals derived from cannabis which they will have no problem with. But no cheap medicine, we can't have that!

Yeah , Republicans and even Democrats are glued to the suggestions of the Law Enforcement Community . More ' Drug War ' is always the answer . More drug war equals more drugs which equals more drug war . Dog chasing its tail . Dumbassedry 101 . Law Enforcement Community doesn't have the Ball's to admit that it is just about Job's and $$$ . Credibility issues . It's obvious to everyone .

Trump may have got that idea from an unusual source, the Wall Street Journal reports (paywall):

Trump had an idea about how to counter the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, which he got after speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin: If the U.S. stopped joint military exercises with the South Koreans, it could help moderate Kim Jong Un’s behavior.

That discussion between Putin and Trump reportedly happened in summer 2017. The pair have only met twice themselves, on the sidelines of diplomatic gatherings in Germany in July 2017 and in Vietnam that November.

A former FBI acting director has alleged Donald Trump dismissed advice from his own security agencies on the threat posed by North Korea’s missiles, saying “I don’t care. I believe Putin.”

Andrew McCabe made the claims in an interview with 60 Minutes, in which he discussed his tenure at the FBI after James Comey was fired by the president in 2017.

McCabe said Trump made the comments in a meeting about the weapons capability of North Korea. McCabe was not in the meeting with Trump and said his FBI colleague told him about it later.

“The president launched into several unrelated diatribes. One of those was commenting on the recent missile launches by the government of North Korea. And, essentially, the president said he did not believe that the North Koreans had the capability to hit us here with ballistic missiles in the United States. And he did not believe that because President Putin had told him they did not. President Putin had told him that the North Koreans don’t actually have those missiles,” said McCabe.

What does all this talk about Trump, and treason, and Putin, etc, have to do with drug policy, you might ask?

Okay, Let's connect the dots.

First, we need to step out of our narrow political silos, and smell the fascism! Bottom line, Trump and the Republican Party are more loyal to Putin and Saudi Arabia than they are loyal to America. Republicans do not love America -- they protect Trump, who is a blatant Putin operative. Republicans are fucking traitors. Trump is a white supremacist, fascist authoritarian. Go educate yourself until you grasp this general idea; then proceed.

Secondly, a fascist authoritarian police state, such as under Trump and the Republicans, precludes a functioning democracy in which The People, via their legitimately elected representatives in government, govern themselves. Grasp this fact.

Thirdly, marijuana legalization, drug policy reform, and criminal justice reform, all are efforts which are premised on the existence of a functioning democracy. Otherwise, what is the point of lobbying Congress?

Take a couple good hits, and reflect on that, I suggest. I've connected the main dots; now you should easily be able to see the drawing of the "duck." If you support marijuana legalization, you must oppose Trump and the Republicans.